The hard truth of working in London

In a city as vast as London, with a population of 8.63 million and growing finding a job can be quite a task as I’ve mentioned in my previous post. Making yourself a valuable member of the company you end up working for is one of the key factors to success in this city. As I’ve seen colleagues and friends jump from job to job the one lesson I have learned is everybody is replaceable, don’t think for a second that you aren't because in a city as large as this there will always be someone who can do your job just as well as you or better. Some people may say this is too harsh but living in a city which ideally makes you or breaks you within the first few months of being here this is the hard truth.

in a city as large as this there will always be someone who can do your job just as well as you or better 

Working anywhere in the world is a competition. Its a matter of your own mindset whether you chose to win that competition or not. Although I am not an expert through my own experiences and from others around me I’d like to share my top tips on always bringing your A-game to any job!

Presentation

Presentation is one of the most important skills you can have under your belt. From knowing what to wear, how you speak and how you act in certain situations is so vital to getting the job you want and keeping it. What you wear can be a great way to express yourself to the employer, if you turn up to an interview for a law firm wearing jeans and a hoody and the guy after you is wearing a nicely groomed suit who do you think they're more like to take seriously and make an offer to? Take some time to find out what your personal style is, look at icons that inspire you and use that as your inspiration, this can give you a great uniqueness and show the employer that you know who you are and want to be, plus being in an outfit that’s totally your personal style can boost your confidence!

Communication

Which brings me to my next point, how you speak. You don’t need to speak prim and proper to be taken seriously but talking clearly and articulating your words expresses a certain confidence in what you’re saying and it also helps you to slow down so you're not mumbling. Communicating your ideas to co-workers or to your boss is something that everybody in the workplace deals with. If you're good at expressing your ideas you're good to go! If you're not, write them down, think them through and then present them.

Actions

The way you act and present yourself can say a lot about your character. Being put under pressure is one of the most common. My advice would be to learn how to organize yourself so that you're always on top of your work and avoid stress as much as you can. Knowing how to calm yourself down and think clearly in pressured situations is a very good skill to have.

Learning on the job

I believe that every person has unique strengths and learning to use them to your advantage can help you go a long way. Learning how to do certain things quickly is essential in the temping environment or in any new work environment. Picking up new skills and ways of doing things differ from job to job so you always have to be ready to listen and learn. It's important to take notes so always bring a notebook with you so you're prepared and don't have to remember everything exactly. Heres a little checklist that I use going to any temp jobs:

My temp essential checklist:

a notebook ( I use this to take notes of tasks I will be doing as every company has a different way of doing things and it can be a good reference)

a book ( this may sound a little strange, but some temp jobs can literally be sitting at a desk for 8 hours doing nothing because you're filling in for someone. It's better to be doing something than looking bored)

Beauty products (as I’m a girl I take makeup with me in my bag for emergencies but in this case, I want to look my best so I always have a small hairbrush, some cover up foundation and a small deodorant just because those tube rides can be long and very hot!! For boys you may just need a comb to fix your hair!)

and of course A SMILE this sounds super cheesy but it goes a long way :)

These would be my main and first pieces of advice to you going into any job. Over this past year, these have been the things I have noticed and picked up along the way. I hope this post has been helpful in your job search or given you some needed motivation! Make sure you're the person becoming the replacement, the one who knows how to do the job better and knows what to do to keep it and you’ll always be one step ahead of the game.